Lost on an isle
by Dragon-Ninjagirl
Summary: The five friends crashed with a new jet into the sea and landed on an isolated isle. What will they do for their survival? Will Axel get closer to Lioness? And will they ever see Landmark City again?...Find out!
1. A new Adventure

**Lost on an isle**

_Chapter I_

It was a normal evening at the aquatic center. Nothing was to do, so Axel was at his laptop, Lioness read a book an King was in the kitchen, eating. Shark and Hawk were playing a video-game. Suddenly Axel´s cell phone rang. "Yeah?", he said,"Okay, we´ll be there." He ended the talk and turned to his friends, "That was Mr Lee. He wants us to test a new long-haul aircraft." Hawk looked up and started smiling,"Great! When do we have to come?" "Tomorrow morning, we´re due to arrive at eight. We´ll meet him at the hangars", Axel said while he stood up and walked to his room. He was tired and it was about eleven o´clock. "See you tomorrow", he said and closed his door.

"Hey, dudes, do you know what´s wrong with him?", Shark suddenly asked," I mean it´s just about eleven and he went to bed, that isn´t usual."

"I don´t know what he has got, but it´s contagious", Lioness replied.

"You mean he´s ill?" Hawk questioned.

"No, I didn´t mean that he´s ill. I wanted to say that I´m tired, too." She closed her book and arose. After she closed her door, King came in. "Hey, where´s Axel? And where is Lioness? Are they doing something together?", he asked Shark and Hawk.

"Axel went to bed and Lioness is in her room. And I´m acting like them now. Good night", Hawk answered and a few moments later there were just King and Shark.

"Do you want to play?", Shark asked and pointed at the second controler. King smiled, "If you want to lose!"

The next morning Axel rose with the sun. His alarm clock showed that it was just about five. He got up and put his tracksuit on. Then he walked quietly to the gym. Outside the sun was rising and dipped the sky into orange and pink colors. In the gym Axel did some stretching exercises before he started with his training. He imagined an invisible opponent and began to punch and kick him without any warnings.

After an hour of fighting with this opponent he heard a silent noise behind him. Axel stopped the fight and turned around. A shadow stood in the door and watched him. At second sight he realized that it was Lioness. She took a step into the light, so he could see her. She wore black pants and a green top. Her brown hair were in a pony-tail.

"You needn´t stop because of me", she said smiling. Lioness went towards him and surrendered in front of Axel. Just now he noticed how heavily he breathed.

_I don´t know why, but she looks different today. More beautiful as otherwise..._

"What is?", Lioness asked with a confused sight. He noticed that he was staring at her. Quickly he looked away.

"Fight with me, or are you afraid of being beaten by a girl?"

Axel smiled. No, Lioness was no girl. She was more than that. First of all she was a very good Capoeira fighter. It would not be easy to beat her.

And she was his friend and teammate. But when she was around him, he felt different, just like now. An unknown feeling sat into his chest and he often tried to find out what it was. Till this day he didn´t discovered that feeling and he thought that it would take a long time.

Axel went into a fighting position and waited for her to begin. Suddenly she jumped into the air and kicked him. He blocked and kicked back. Lioness ducked down and tried to punch his face. Axel rolled into her back and started and attack. She dodged and kicked.

Each one tried to kick and punch his opponent down. But that wasn´t easy. Lioness was very flexible because of her Capoeira. And Axel was skilled in Jo-Lan, so they were equally good.

The fight took about an hour. At the end both kicked at the same time and fell down onto the mats. Their fight was undecided. Axel and Lioness sat down and drank some water. Their breathings were unregular and fast. After some minutes of silence Axel spoke up," You´re really good" Lioness blushed a little bit. "Thank you, but it was a tie, so we´re equal." She smiled to him. "We should get dressed now. It´s almost 7:15 and it would be better if we´re on time", Axel said and stood up. He and Lioness walked back. Axel stared at Lioness again. When she turned towards him, he quickly looked away and blushed a little.

Suddenly King shouted through the aquatic center,"HAWK!!! Where is my laptop?! I´ll kill you!"

"Why should I know where your things are?", Hawk called back while he tried to run away from King who was really angry and chased him.

Shark came over to Axel and Lioness," Hey, dudes, would you please stop them? I tried it, but King nearly rolled me down."

Axel sighed. Almost every day King was angry with Hawk and came after him. They were friends, but they could not be in the same room for a long time.

Hawk jumped over the couch and hid there. Meanwhile Axel ran to King and stopped him," What´s up?", he asked his best friend. Normally King was a gentle giant who loves animals, but when Hawk was around he acted out of character.

"He had taken my laptop", King growled. "Are you sure of that, King? Your laptop is here, in the kitchen", said Lioness. King blushed,"Oh, sorry Hawk..."

"You see, I´m not as bad as you think!", Hawk said.

"Okay, we have to go now. Mr Lee is waiting for us", Axel said and went into his room. He put his black and orange jumpsuit on and met the others a few minutes later in the garage. They took the Slamma and drove to the Lee Industries Hangars.

Mr Lee was waiting for his five test-drivers. "Follow me, please", he said and they walked to hangar 16. The giant door opened and a silver and black jet appeared. Hawk was impressed and inspected the machinery.

Meanwhile the others were talking to Mr Lee," This jet can fly from Landmark City to Tokyo and back without refuel. And you five must fly from here to Tokyo and back, to realize this theory", Mr Lee explained.

After he gave the five friens some briefings they went into the jet and sat down. "Cool, from here to Tokyo...", Shark said. Everyone put his helmet on and Hawk started the engine. He rolled the jet onto the runway. Then it went faster and faster. A few minutes later they lift off. Landmark City became as small as an ant-colony. Hawk flew under the clouds, so they could see the mainland and the see. "Axel, would you check the barometers, please? I don´t want to fly into a storm", Hawk said and changed into the auto-pilot modus.

"Everything´s okay", Axel replied.

Half an hour later Shark asked,"Er, dudes, why is the sky turning so black in front of us?" Hawks face went white,"We´re flying into a thunderstorm!"

"Can´t you change our course? We could fly over the clouds", King suggested.

"That is not as easy as you think, such storms are coming as fast as they are disappearing later."

Suddenly a gust of wind shook at the jet. A lightning flashed at the sky and made the darkness for a few seconds bright. Hawk took the control handle and pulled the nose of the jet up into the clouds. A second lightning appeared and hit the jet´s back. The engine stopped and the electronic turned out. Slowly the nose of the jet moved down, they were into a free fall.

"Shit!", Hawk yelled and tried to pull the jet into a solid position. But it didn´t work. He began to sweat and did not know what to do. "We have to get out of here!", Axel shouted. Everyone took a parachute and tempted to get to the emergency exit. King opened the door and the wind blew in. Each one took another one´s hand, so they wouldn´t lose anyone. Together they jumped out of the falling jet and opened their parachutes just in time. The jet crashed into the dark sea five seconds later.

The wind blew into their parachutes and carried them away. "Disconnect your parachutes or we´ll fly till a lightning roasts us!" Everyone shook his head yes and disconnected his parachute. They fell into the dark sea, but that would be better than end as a roasted human being.

"Is everyone here?", Axel shouted against the storm. Shark and King were next to him. Hawk tried to get air, because he struggeled for his life. He couldn´t swim. Shark helped him and pulled him to the group. "Where is Lioness?, yelled Axel. Suddenly Lioness came over to them. She was just a few metres far away.

"Okay, what shell we do now?" Axel didn´t need an answer. A giant wave built up in front of the five teens. It was about 2 metres high and buried Axel, Lioness, Shark, Hawk and King under itself. Everyone thought that it would be their sure death...

_**This is my first A.T.O.M. fic. I hope you like it.**_

_**And please excuse some spelling and grammar mistakes. English is not my first language, so I gave my best...**_

_**Please review!**_

_**(next chapter is coming soon)**_


	2. A small isle

_Chapter II_

The sun started to set as Axel opened his eyes. He lay on a soft ground, it was sand. "Whoa, my head..." He looked around. Axel was on a shore, with palms and white sand. The weather was sunny again, the storm was gone. Axel stood up and searched his friends. King was just a few metres away. Axel ran to him and woke his best friend up. "Where are we? What...what happened?" King was confused. "The wave flushed us to this shore, I think", Axel answered. Shark came over to them,"Hey, dudes! That was a cool wave, wasn´t it?"

_We´re lucky that we are living. Now we have to find Hawk and Lioness, I hope they are okay...that she is okay..._

Axel woke up out of his thougts and started searching Hawk and Lioness. They found Hawk near a small rock, with a crab on his face. As he woke up he screamed and threw the poor crab away. Everyone laughed.

Lioness was on the shore, behind a fallen palm. She came towards her friends. As they all were together they planned what to do.

"Okay, guys, the jet is broken and we´re on an isle. Maybe there is no civilisation around." Shark walked the shore up and down.

"Great, I´m cold and wet and the sun is setting...oh, did I mention that this will be our end?!", cried Hawk. He was nearly in panic. "I think it would be the best if we´re collecting some lumber for a fire. Then we could dry our clothes and reheat us", King suggested.

"Have you read a Robinson Crusoe book, again?", Lioness smirked. "Hey, the main thing is, that it is useful", he answered back. "I don´t know how big this isle is, so we should meet us in 15 minutes here again", Axel said.

Everyone agreed and went into the palm forest. Hawk went into the left part, King and Shark into the middle and Axel into the right part. Lioness followed him, she wanted to know why he was so different when she was around him.

Axel was collecting some branches and thin twigs. He smiled as he saw her coming. She smiled back and helped him. "What´s wrong with you? Since the last days you acted out of character. I´m worried about you", she suddenly said and tried to look into his eyes. Axel avoided her look and kept on collecting branches. "Okay, if you don´t want to talk", she snapped and walked away. Axel sighed and hated himself for that.

_She is right, I´m different. But I can´t tell her that she is the reason. Maybe she would laugh at me, and our friendship would be destroyed. It means too much to me, and many other things could get broken because of those...feelings. Our team, for example. No, I´ll hold my feelings back. I´ve got too much to lose...and much to win...shit, why am I so shy?_

After fifteen minutes they all met at the place of their arrival. King found some flints and tried to lit the collected branches. He needed about an hour and in the last time it was very difficult to beat the two stones on each other, because the sun setted some time ago. But then a spark appeared and the dry leaves smoked. King blowed into the fervor and flames licked at the branches. Some time later a fire burned.

Thankfully Hawk sat down in front of it and reheated his cold hands. "Okay, who said I´m reading too much Robinson Crusoe?", King asked triumphantly. "Hey, I did not say that you´re reading too much, I just said that you _read _Robinson Crusoe", Lioness said offended," If you want to rub my nose in something, than correct, please."

Everyone except Axel sat around the fire and reheated. Axel sat a few metres away and gazed on the dark sea. The wind blew into his face and through his brown hair. He froze because of the wind and his wet clothes, but he did not want to come to the warm fire. He had to think about many things. The most important one was if he should tell Lioness his feelings.

Lioness glanced over to Axel. He sat there, his knees on his chest and his arms wrapped around them. She was confused by him. Sometimes he was a funny and charming young man with a great sense of humor. But betime he wanted to be alone. In such times he thought about many things, especially the misterious disappearance of his father. However now he thought of something different. Lioness stood up and walked over to him.

Axel heard some footsteps in the soft sand, but he didn´t turn around. He knew that it was Lioness. She always cared about him, and their last talk confirmed that. Lioness sat down next to him. Axel smiled a little bit. A part of him hoped that she would come. He bit his lower lip and stared on the sea.

"Come to the fire", she said," or you´re getting cold." This time he answered her," I´m fine." Of course it was a lie. Fortunately she didn´t look into his eyes, Axel could not lie if someone is looking him straight into the eyes. Lioness had enough. She got up and started walking to their friends. "If you don´t want to tell me..." Suddenly Axel sighed. He didn´t want Lioness to go away. "Wait, please." It was more a whisper than a calling. Lioness smiled, her plan worked. Everytime he did not want to tell her something, she went away. Then he would call her back and tell her everything that was on his heart, mostly.

She went back to him and sat down again. "It was my fault", Axel said. He was sad, and she knew this. "What was your fault? What have you done?" "Hawk told me to check the barometer before our start, but I did something wrong. I should have seen this storm. It is my fault, that we are here now", he said sadly. Lioness leaned her head against his shoulder. " It wasn´t your fault. You know that those storms are coming very fast and not even the best barometer can foretell when and where", she tried to make him feel better, but he still stared at the sea as she came closer to him. She could feel that his body was warm, even if his clothes were wet.

Meanwhile at the fire:

"Hey, guys, look! I can´t believe my eyes", Shark said as he saw Axel and Lioness sitting together. "Yeah, that is really cute...", Hawk guessed and stared at them. "Hey, stop staring at the two dudes! They´ll see you!", Shark hissed. Hawk blushed a little and looked the other way.

"You see, I was right", King said smiling, but Shark and Hawk didn´t understand what he meant. "Are you blind? They belong together, that was what I meant!"

"Err, King, have you seen a novel the last days or where did you get this sentence from?", Hawk giggled. Shark couldn´t hold his laugh back and snorted with laughter.

King looked at Hawk with evil eyes. Directly he stopped laughing and looked to Shark, who stopped laughing not yet. After a few seconds and an evil look of King he stopped, too.

Suddenly Hawk had an idea." What about a bet?", he suggested. King and Shark looked at him, they didn´t understand what he wanted. "A bet about Axel and Lioness. If King is right and they _belong _ together, we could bet when they´ll kiss the first time." Shark understood and started with his bet,"I bet that they´ll kiss tonight. They´re very close together and I think it could work."

"I guess the kiss is coming tomorrow...what about you King? Any ideas?", Hawk asked. King hesitated, but then he bet, too. "Well, I think they´ll kiss in three days. Oh, and what about the wager? Everyone of us should bet five dollar, okay?" They agreed and decided not to tell Axel or Lioness anything about their bet.

Then they talked about other things like how to escape out of this isle.

Back to Axel and Lioness:

"Hey, let´s go to the fire", Lioness said again. "I´m fine, everything´s okay", he replied, again and again. Lioness stood up. "You are so bullheaded! Axel Manning, come to the fire or I´ll tell King that he must carry you to it!" Axel looked at her in amazement. He had never seen her so angry like this. As he looked in her eyes he saw that she was not really angry, but she cared about him and wanted her friend to reheat.

"Come with me, please", she said gently. Lioness grabbed his arm and pulled him up. He eased and came with her to the fire. Their friends were waiting for them.

"Hey, Lioness, why did you shout like that? Or...what did Axel do?", Hawk wanted to know. "Oh, he did nothing. And that´s why I shouted", Lioness smiled. She sat next to Axel, who fetched a penknife out of his pocket. He took a small branch and started carving.

"I´ve never seen this knife. Who gave it to you?", King asked as he saw Axel´s knife. It had a black haft with a chinese dragon in red on it.

"My father gave it to me when I was nine. Since then I had it ever with me, in remembrance of my father...", Axel answered while he was carving. He was a little sad as he told his friends about the knife. It meant a lot to him.

King knew how Axel felt and changed the theme. "Hey, Shark, let´s swim a little bit tomorrow. The sea looks calm now." Shark laughed a bitter laugh,"You are funny, King. Haven´t you seen the sharks near the rocks overthere? Best joke ever..." Kings try to change the theme was a big flop, so he shutted up.

After some time Shark started to talk about another thing, so a funny conversation started. Later, Axel took an interest in their talk and joined their conversation. At late night his sadness was gone and the old Axel was back. The one who liked it to be with his friends, the one who had a charming sense of humor.

_It is better if I´m not thinking of something. Sometimes it is better to think nothing...just like Hawk..._

Axel had to smile about his own thougts.

It was just about midnight when Hawk fell asleep. Lioness was also tired and laid in the sand. She closed her eyes and fell asleep, too. King and Shark were asleep after half an hour later, so just Axel sat at the fire. He looked at the girl next to him. She looked very peaceful.

_...and beautiful. Axel, you fool, you fell in love with her._ A voice in his head told him. And it was right. In the last time he had some unknown feelings when she was around. His voice knew this feeling and helped him to dis


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III**

Axel was the first one who woke up. The sun was rising and a cold but fresh breeze was at the shore. Their fire from the last night was put out and a small hill of ashes smoked there. Axel thought of the happenings of last night. He felt happy as he remembered how Lioness and himself sat at the shore. Then he looked at Lioness herself. She was still sleeping and her breath was regular and quiet. The rising sun threw an orange and yellow light on her face.

_She looks like a sleeping angel...peaceful and caring about others._

Axel stood up and walked into the small forest of palms. It seemed to grow on the whole isle. He decided to discover this new area and started walking towards a small path in the soft soil. Bushes and different trees appeared more and more as he went into the center of the isle. Sometimes Axel saw small animals crossing his way. Half an hour later he heard a noise. It sounded like water, like a spring. Axel followed this sound and found some rocks, not bigger than himself. A thin jet of water came out of the middle of them. This spring flowed into a creek that would end in the sea.

Axel tasted this water. It wasn´t salty, so he could drink it. He smiled. A big problem was solved. Now it wouldn´t be difficult to survive, if you just count the food and the water. After he quenched his thurst he went back to his friends. Axel walked very slowly and tried to remember the way to the spring.

As he reached the shore he saw Hawk and King at the fire place. King lit the ashes with new wood and twigs, so they had a nice fire. Shark knelt on some rocks that were in the sea near the coast, he looked into the water and waited for something. Axel´s sight searched Lioness. She was climbing on a tree and picked fruits out of it. Because of her flexibility she reached even very high branches. She jumped to a branch and then to another one higher. As she got some fruits she jumped down onto the soft sand. Lioness came over to her teammates and laid the fruits near the fire. Then she corrected her ponytail and noticed Axel´s look.

"What´s up?", she asked him. Axel watched Shark who still knelted on these rocks. "What is Shark doing there?", he asked a little confused. Lioness laughed and King started to smile. "He tries to catch some fish...but I think he is not so good, he is knelting there about half an hour, just after you left", Lioness answered. Hawk went over to Shark and sat next to him. Suddenly a hard wave grabbed Shark and Hawk and both fell into the water. Everyone had to laugh, that was too funny. When the two boys came to their friends Hawk fetched something out of his jumpsuit jacket.

"Wow, a fish! He is better than you, Shark!", King joked. Shark looked at the fish. It was not bigger than a finger. "Threw it into the water, it´s too small", he said and Hawk threw it into the sea.

"I found a spring in the forest, not far from here", Axel said as he ate a fruit. "We could build a hut or something else for our shelter", King suggested. Each one of the five teens thought that it was a good idea, they decided to start after their breakfast. "But first we should discover the whole island. Then we can choose the best place for a shelter", Axel said. Later they divided their team into two groups. One group would go right around and the other one would go left around. Then they would meet in the middle.

Axel went with Lioness and King. Shark and Hawk were the other group. But King decided to go with Shark and Hawk. Fortunately Axel or Lioness didn´t see the look Shark gave King. This look said _come with us, or don´t you want them together?_ King understood and went with the two guys. Axel himself was confused. Why did King change his opinion? But that wasn´t so important, he thought and forgot this happening later. Lioness and Axel turned right and the others left.

Axel felt that something was different. Lioness didn´t say any word after they left, so he was quiet. Lioness walked close to him, but he didn´t notice it. He tried to avoid her to hold his true feelings back. He was fighting with his thoughts. Should he tell her his feelings, or shouldn´t he? It was a fight he fought since the last minutes, the last hours, the last days, the last weeks. But he did not know who his opponent was. This made the fight harder.

Two hours later the two groups met. King said, that he saw a nice tree, they could build a hut there. The branches would be the mainframe. The five friends went to this tree and were amazed: It was a nine metre high thick tree with many branches and twigs. The branches grew everywhere around the trunk and two metres over the ground were perfect branches to build a hut. In the crown were very long lians. The spring was just five minutes away, the shore about ten. But that was okay, the tree was more than wonderful. Fruits grew in its crown, too.

"Okay, team, let´s distribute the different works among us", Axel said," Shark, would you collect any long branches? We need them for the roofing and the walls." Shark nodded and started searching some branches. "King, can you make a fire there on the free place?" King salutated smiling and collected wood. "Well, Lioness, would you fetch these lians out of the crown? You´re the only one who can climb very well", Axel looked at her. She smiled and answered," It would be a pleasure to me."

"Hawk? We´re building the roofing. Shark laid some branches overthere. Let´s start" Lioness jumped into the tree and climbed higher and higher. When she reached the lians, she pulled at them, but these plants were to strong. "I can´t cut them, they are too strong!", she shouted down to Axel and Hawk. Axel had an idea.

"Wait a minute!", he shouted back and searched his penknife. When he found it, he called a warning to Lioness and threw it towards her. She caught it and cut the lians. One after one fell on the ground. Lioness came down as they had a small hill of these plants. She gave the knife back to Axel." This is a very good penknife. Take care of it", she whispered to him that Hawk couldn´t hear it.

Axel nodded and built a roofing with Lioness and Hawk. Lioness climbed onto the first branches of the tree and took the wood Axel gave her. Then she connected the branches with lians and laid palm leaves on it. An hour later the roofing was finished and King helped Shark to collect new branches. Hawk leaned the branches against the frame of the roofing and linked it with climbing plants. This way they built the walls. A one metre wide gap was in the walls, there was the "door". The tree´s branches gave them the possibility to build the hut around the whole trunk. It wasn´t easy to connect the wood all around the roofing frame.

When the sun was high at the sky they made a short break. They were a little bit tired, but it was very funny to build this hut. The teens finished one half of their new home. It was big enough for all of them. If it was ready it would be very big. Later they went on with their work and finished the walls.

In the afternoon they started with the inside. Lioness put some grass on the ground. Axel secured the walls from the inside, Shark made a pillow for himself with a big leaf and some grass. Hawk found one old parachute at the shore. Maybe the sea brought it there. They used it as a door curtain, so the wind couldn´t blow into their hut.

At the evening, the sun began to set, everything was finished. Each one of them was tired but happy. They sat around the fire and got some rest.

Axel was very quiet this evening. If his friends asked him something, he just answered "yes" or "no". Lioness was woried about him. He was so different. And the reason was not his father. She could feel it that he was thinking of something else. His absent-minded look made her froze. She placed a hand on his shoulder and spoke to him in a low voice,"Hey, what are you thinking about?" A few moments he said nothing and avoided her eyes. Then he stood up and walked away.

King, Hawk and Shark looked at Lioness. "What?", she asked confused and felt how her face blushed a little.

"Oh, you know what is going on", Shark replied.

"I don´t know what you´re talking about." Lioness lied. Of course she knew what was going on. She liked Axel a lot and somehow her friends noticed it.

"You should follow him. I´m his best friend and I know-" "Nothing, he knows nothing!", Hawk interrupted King.Nearly King had Lioness told about Axels feelings. But this would be against their bet, no word to Axel or Lioness.

"Err, yes, I know nothing...oh, and you should follow him anyway."

"Why should I? He wants to be alone, that´s obvious", she said and looked into the direction Axel went.

The three guys influenced Lioness till she stood up and followed Axel. She didn´t know that King, Shark and Hawk were thinking of their bet...

Lioness saw Axel leaning against a tree at the shore. He watched the sunset and the fresh breeze blew through his hair and clothes. Orange, red and yellow colors were thrown on the sea. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes for some time. Lioness sneaked towards a rock and hid behind it. She could watch him forever. This picture, Axel leaning against a tree and staring at the sea, woke an unknown feeling in her heart. She often tried to find out what it was, but she never made it.

Suddenly Axel opened his eyes and spoke up," Come out, I heard your footsteps." Lioness´ face blushed slightly and slowly she came out of her hiding place. She walked to Axel and wanted to look in his eyes, but he looked at the sea. "What´s wrong with you?", she asked. Somehow she couldn´t say more. Her mouth didn´t want to work. Everytime she was with Axel she could speak normal. But now everything was different. She was alone with him, none watched them. She couldn´t describe what she felt as she saw him standing there like this, but it was a strong feeling. Her heart was beating in a fast rythm. That was not normal.

"It´s nothing...", he answered. Of course it was a lie. But she didn´t look into his eyes, so she didn´t notice it. Then Axel started walking away. But Lioness grabbed his arm and stopped him. He turned towards her and saw into her gold and green eyes. Lioness looked into his clear blue eyes. Normally she could read his feelings and thoughts out of his eyes, but there were many different thoughts and feelings in them, so she couldn´t see anything. One thing was sure: He was hiding something.

Her hands touched his´ and Lioness blushed a little. The better question was: What was wrong with _her_?

"I´m sorry, but...I have to think about many things...", he started. He told her the truth, his eyes spoke to her in silence. Then Axel gave Lioness a kiss on her cheek and turned around, he walked away. Lioness was surprised. Slowly she moved her hands to the point where Axel kissed her. She started smiling. Her heartbeat was very fast, but she felt like she was in another world. Everything seemed so wonderful now. She jumped into the air with a silent but triumphalic shout and was so happy like she never was. Now she knew that Axel liked her, too. She could tell him her feelings without any fears of making a fool of herself. She went back to the camp and tried to look like everyday. That wasn´t easy to hide her happyness.

As the guys wanted to know what happened, she told them that Axel avoided her and that he wanted to be alone. After this lie she went into their hut and laid on her sleeping place. She stared at the roofing and an hour of dreaming later she fell asleep.

Axel came back to the hut. He hated himself for what he did. Maybe their team will get broken, just because of this little kiss.

_Well done, Axel. Really well done! Now she could hate me, our team will break and we will go our own ways. And whose fault was it?! Yours!_

The voice in his head sounded really angry. He himself was very angry. He passed the boys and went straight to the hut without any word. He avoided their amazed and surprised looks and went inot the hut. Lioness laid at the other end of the hut, sleeping. Axel decided to lay next to her. He ignored the voice in his head and did what his heart told him. Now it doesn´t matter if he listened to his heart or to his mind. The voice of his heart meant more to him than his mind.

He remembered the kiss in the evening and smiled. It felt very good. Axel thought of this happening before he fell asleep, next to the girl he loved.

_**Hey, dudes! Thanks for your great reviews! I wrote this chapter from 22:30pm to 01:20am, so nearly three hours!**_

_**I hope you´ll like it ... and please don´t forget to review!**_

_**Maybe this chapter is a little bit too deeply moving, but I gave my best and I´m very tired now...**_

**Next chapter is coming soon! (please review!!!) ;-)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV**

Axel stood in the near of a cliff in the desert. He did not know how he got there, so he searched a way to get out of it. Suddenly Paine appeared, and with him Spydah and Flesh. Lioness, Shark, Hawk and King came out of nowhere and helped him fighting against his rival. King and Hawk stopped Flesh while Lioness and Shark were fighting with Spydah. Paine smiled a bad smile and attacked Axel who reacted as fast as a snake and kicked him back. Paine tried to give Axel some of his pain, but Axel ducked and could punch him. Paine blocked and yelled something to Spydah. The man with the eight legs understood and grabbed Lioness with one of his mechanical limbs. He caught her feet and rose her into the air.

She couldn´t move and was helpless. Axel kicked Paine and ran towards Spydah to help Lioness. Spydah noticed him and threw Lioness away. She flew towards the cliff and Axel ran as fast as he could after her. She could hold on the brink, but the stone broke. Before she fell into her sure death Axel caught her hand. But Lioness lost her hold and fell into the deep darkness. Axel wanted to scream as her hands slipped out of his. His voice was gone and he saw Lioness falling till she disappeared in the darkness of the cliff.

With a hateful sight he looked to Paine who was grinning. With tears in his eyes Axel kicked him as hard as he could, but he kicked into the air. Paine was gone, and with him Lioness, the girl he loved. It felt like a knife was rammed into his heart. He sank onto his knees and cried. Everything around him went darker, but he still cried. His tears fell on the black ground...

Axel woke up sweatbathed. His breath was unregular and fast. Then he recognized the aroundings. He was in the hut they built the day before. Next to him was Lioness asleep. She was here with him, so everything was alright. She wasn´t gone or dead or anything else, she was just there. Axel was happy and reliefed about this fact. His dream gave him the feeling back he had when his father disappeared. The feeling of being alone and left back.

He stood up and went out. It was still dark, but in the east the sky turned a little yellow. It was some time before sunrise. Axel took a breath in and walked to the spring. He knew the way even in the darkness. After he drank a little bit of the cool and fresh water he went to the shore. Sand was the best ground to practice fighting. And fighting was the best way to forget everything expect the opponent and the moves. At the shore Axel put his jacket off. He felt still hot, so he wanted to train without his warm jacket. The morning air was cold and every breathing left a small cloud.

Axel imagined his opponent and started fighting. Every movement was full of any feeling. As he kicked he thought of Lioness, and as he punched his opponent he thought of Paine who took Lioness away from Axel. Sometimes he kicked hard and then soft and slowly. The aroundings stopped to exist and he concentrated on his opponent. Even his feelings or thoughts were gone when he fought.

Lioness woke up with the sun. She saw the three guys, Shark, Hawk and King, but Axel was gone. She remembered last night. After she fell asleep she heard in her dreams that someone was laying next to her. She inspected the grass and saw that it was even level, so Axel must have been laying next to her this night. Lioness smiled and got up. She saw footsteps on the soft soil and followed them. First they ended at the spring, so she drank some water. Then she searched a little and found the next footsteps towards the shore. This time she saw that they were just about thirty minutes old. She followed them carefully, because she didn´t want that Axel saw her. Lioness liked it if she could watch him without being seen.

When she reached the shore she sneaked to a tree and looked around. Then she saw Axel fighting with an invisible opponent. He had put his jacket off, so the upper part of his body was free. Lioness surprised. She didn´t know that Axel looked so cute. Without looking away she sneaked to a bush and hid behind it. Now she noticed what Axel said the day before, he had heard her footsteps. Slowly and quietly she went to the bush, so Axel couldn´t hear her. From this place she could watch him better. His moves were sometimes slowly and thoughtful, then fast again. He jumped into the air and kicked his opponent who, if he would be real, had no chance to block or avoid this kick. Many power was in it and Axel stopped fighting. He gave too much power in this moves and was a little tired. His chest rose up and down in a fast rythm.

He looked at the sea like he always did after he fought or when he thought of something.

Lioness came out of her hiding place and sneaked to him. His back was towards her, so he couldn´t see her. When she was near enough she jumped into the air and kicked him. Quickly Axel turned around and blocked her kick. Then he smiled, "It´s nice to see you, too." With a fast move he grabbed her leg that he blocked and threw her on the ground. Lioness was surprised, but she accepted his provocation. A second later she stood on her feet again and waited for Axel to attack her. But Axel waited for her attack, too. They stood there about ten minutes, both in fighting position and ready to block or attack every moment.

The girl attacked him at first. He blocked her punch, grabbed her arm and used the power of her punch to pull her behind him. Moreover he stood his leg in her way, so she fell over it. But Lioness wasn´t stupid. As she fell over his leg she rolled onto her feet again and attacked his legs with a kick. Axel jumped into the air and kicked, too. His opponent blocked the attack and grabbed his leg. She threw it as high as she could, so Axel would fall on his back. Axel used this throw and made a backward salto. After he landed on his feet he punched Lioness. She blocked again and rolled in his back. Axel turned around and ducked just in time before a punch brushed against his brown hair.

Their fight lasted about two hours this time, the sun rose already and Axel and Lioness were tired and hard breathing. The fight ended as Axel kicked Lioness down. She laid there and didn´t move. Her eyes were closed. Fear came up into Axel. _Did I knock her out?_, he thought. He knelt down and bowed over her to check her pulse. He laid his head on her chest and listened. Everything was normal, a little fast maybe, but normal. Then he opened one eye and looked for her reflex. Suddenly Lioness opened her eyes and rose her head to kiss Axel. His eyes widened in surprise, but then he deepened the kiss. Lioness started laughing and broke the kiss. Axel laid next to her in the sand. "That wasn´t funny", he said confused and a little angry. He thought Lioness knocked out or something even worser.

"No, you are right, it wasn´t funny...but you would laugh, too, if you had seen your own eyes", she smirked. "Really?", he asked. Without any warning Axel turned to Lioness and tickled her. She laughed and tickled him back, but she didn´t know that Axel wasn´t ticklish. So Axel had an advantage. He pulled her to him and kissed her. Now he was happy. He always tried to hold his feelings back and now he was happy that he listened to his heart. On the other hand what would happen if she wouldn´t love him? Axel didn´t want to know the answer. In the moment there was just Lioness and himself important. But then he remembered his dream and suddenly he felt sad.

_Was it really just a dream? Or was it the future? What if it becomes true? ...Then I´ll prevent it...or I´ll never love another girl again._

Axel stood up and pulled Lioness up to him. "I think it´s time to go back", he said and took Lioness´ hand. Together they walked back to the camp. Lioness walked closer to him than ever. As he looked to her, she smiled and he smiled back. Suddenly Axel heard a noise. It sounded like a far thunder, but the sun was shining and he saw no cloud. He turned around and his face went white. Lioness followed his look and saw it, too. She was afraid and took Axel´s hand very strong into hers. She looked at him, his eyes told her what to do and she understood: She had to run for her life.

_**Again I hope that you like this chapter! **_

_**You can guess what IT is and why Axel and Lioness must run for their lives... I´ll tell ya so far: IT is deadly!...And big...**_

_**Please don´t forget to review! Your reviews were very nice, thank you very much!**_

_**;-)**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter V**

The thing they saw was a hurricane. The sky at the horizon turned black and grey, the wind blew a little harder than before. A grey, black and darkblue pipe went from the sea up to the sky and whirled around. Lightnings flashed and thunder growled. At the moment Axel and Lioness and their friends were safe, but the hurricane moved straight towards them. In half an hour it would arrive at the isle and it would destroy or kill everything in its way.

Axel started running back to the camp, he pulled Lioness after himself. They ran as fast as they could, because they had just about thirty minutes to find a safe hiding place, something like a small cave or a very thick tree. The twigs of the bushes tore Axel´s clothes up, but he didn´t notice. Suddenly he fell over a branch that was lying in his way. He rolled over the ground and the rough ground caused him gazes on his arms. He hissed the air in and stood up. Lioness helped him and they ran faster than before.

When they arrived at the camp they found Shark leaning against a tree, he was asleep. "Shark! Wake up!", Axel shouted to him and shook Shark´s shoulders. Shark opened his eyes and yawned,"Hey, what´s up, dude?" "We have no time for that. Where are King and Hawk?", Axel interrupted. "King is in the hut and Hawk is at the spring, I think. But what happened, why don´t we have any time?" Shark was confused. Axel ran to the others and got them together. "A hurricane is moving towards us. Guys, we have to find a place where we can hide till it´s over. Any ideas?", Lioness asked. Hopefully she looked into each ones face and her look stopped at Axel´s. He stared at the ground and thought of any place.

"I know somewhere", King replied. Everyone´s eyes looked at King now. "I found a small cave near the spring, it may be big enough for all of us." "Well, we have to try. Let´s go, we have no time!" Axel tried to smile at King, but he was too afraid to smile. "Thank you", he said to his best friend. "No problem, you helped me more times." King led the group to the cave. He stopped in front of some rocks, not bigger than himself. But there was no entrance. "And now? We´ll all die, this will be our end-" "Shut up, and watch!", King interrupted Hawk whose face was whiter than snow. He was very frightened.

King knelt down and put a small bush away. Now there was an entrance, a hole in the rocks. "Follow me", he said and crept through the hole. Axel, Lioness, Hawk and Shark swapped confused looks, but then they looked to the horizon and saw the hurricane moving towards them. Shark was the first one who followed King. Then was it Hawk´s turn. He mumbered something and crept into the cave. Lioness followed him. Axel was the last one, he threw a look to the horizon. Meanwhile the sky turned black, the deadly pipe came nearer. Axel knelt down and followed the others into the cave.

What he saw surprised him: The cave was small, but they had all a place in it. He sat down next to Lioness and looked around. The ceiling was not high, just one and a half metre, so they had to duck their heads. It was dark in the cave. "Hey, King, do you have any light for us?", Axel asked him. "Yes, I have. I made a torch out of the parachute Hawk found at the shore. I think it´ll burn some hours, because I put it into a special oil", King answered. Everyone was confused. Why Odid King know this? King noticed their sights. " I read about this oil. It was made out of some plants and after we finished our hut I had time to produce it. It´s enough for some hours, like I told you." He took his flints and lit the torch. Shark placed it in the middle of the cave, so it spent light and heat to everyone.

None seemed to notice that Lioness sat very close to Axel. Maybe because the cave was very small and that they had to sit close together. Lioness was happy about this fact. She could be close together with Axel and not anyone noticed it. The five friends sat there about fifteen minutes in silence, the only noise was the hard wind outside. King put the bush in front of the entrance, but it was blown away. Outside the sky was as dark as the night, and the clouds had a weird color: black, darkblue and grey.

Then King asked something and broke the silence,"Hey, how long are we here now?" "Three days, I think, but..." Shark couldn´t end his sentence. He knew what King really wanted to know. He remembered their bet, three days ago. And he knew that he lost his bet, because Axel didn´t kiss Lioness in the last days. But if he would do today, King would win the bet. Shark sighed, but somehow he had to laugh. He did not know why, but he smiled and hold his laugh back.

King smiled, too. Shark knew the question that was coming now. King bowed to Axel, who was sitting next to him. He whispered in Axel´s ear," I´ve got a question...did you kiss Lioness today?" Axel was surprised about that question. But he didn´t want to know what the reason was why King asked him such a question. Then the had an idea. Axel smiled, pulled Lioness tight to his chest and kissed her. The kiss didn´t last long, and after that Axel asked," Is that answering your question, King? And please don´t tell me why you wanted to know that." Shark and Hawk mumbered something and they seemed to be angry about something. But King smiled. He was very happy that he won their bet.

"But I want to know why", Lioness said and looked into each one´s face. Hawk spoke up,"Err, well, three days ago, when you and Axel sat at the shore, we..." He stopped. "...we made a bet. We bet on the first kiss...", Shark helped him. "...yes, and I won this bet. Guys, you´ll have to pay when were back in Landmark City", finished King. Axel smiled. He told his best friends of his feelings towards Lioness some time ago. And King knew Axel very well. It was clear that he won the bet.

They changed the theme. Outside the storm blew very hard, but the rocks were secured because of their weight. The torch King made spent them light till about midnight. When the light became lower and lower they decided to sleep. It was no hard day, but somehow they were all tired. Then the light disappeard. In the darkness Axel felt Lioness warm body next to his´. He wrapped his arm tight around her waist and she laid her head on his chest. As she wanted to lay her arm around his waist, too, she touched one of his gazes on his arms. He hissed the air in. Quickly she took her arm away and laid it onto his chest.

Axel touched his gazes. He could feel the warm blood streaming down his arms. But he didn´t saw it, because it was dark, so he didn´t care about it and closed his eyes. Lioness was in his arms and his regular heartbeat and breath pulled her into a peaceful sleep. Axel himself didn´t sleep very deeply. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, he woke up and heard the wind blowing pass the entrance. After many hours he fell asleep, too. The wind was still blowing and he froze. But Lioness reheated him and so he could sleep, too.

_**Hey, dudes, first of all I want to say "Thank you", because of all those great reviews! I hope you liked this chapter, too. I promise, the next chapter is in progress!And don´t forget to review!!!**_

_**(please)**_

_**g;-);-D**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter VI**

As Axel woke up, he saw nothing. Everything was dark. He remembered that he was in the cave with his friends. When his eyes got used to the darkness he saw King who was in front of the entrance and tried to push something away. Shark helped him, but Lioness and Hawk had to sit at the side, the entrance was too small for all of them to push. Axel´s head was full of pain and he felt cold. His gazes burned like fire, but his whole body was as cold as ice. Sweat pearled his forehead down.

He crept over to the others and asked them what happened. "A thick tree fell in front of the entrance, we can´t get out. Even King and Shark together can´t push it away", Lioness explained. Her eyes glimmered in the darkness. "What is wrong with you? While you was asleep you whispered something and your head feels hot", she said and felt his temperature. "I´m okay. I just had a bad dream", he answered and pushed her hand gently away. "King, shall I help you?" Axel came over to him. King nodded, his forehead was full of sweat, the tree was very thick and not easily to move.

Axel closed his eyes. _Those headache..._, he thought. Then he ignored the headache and concentrated on his Jo-Lan. "Jo-Lan chohumatsu!", he cried and a blue light blasted the tree away. But Axel was heavily breathing and sank onto his knees. The pain in his head was very strong. Lioness placed her hand on his shoulder and asked him something. He couldn´t understand her, he understood nothing. Normally his Jo-Lan worked easily and without any lost strength. But now it was different. The Jo-Lan took very much power from him and weakened him. Axel tried to get up, but his legs didn´t work and he fell down. He saw Lioness´ face above his´ and everything around him went dark. He closed his eyes and passed out.

"Axel? Axel!", Lioness shouted. She shook his body, but her friend was helpless. She looked at King who knelt in her opposite. He felt Axel´s temperature and yelled to Hawk,"Get fresh water!" Hawk went out and Shark asked,"What is with him?" "I don´t know, but he is very weak." Lioness ran with her hand over Axel´s cheek. She felt how hot his face was. Suddenly he whispered something in a low voice, but none could understand it.

King looked over his best friend´s body. Then he noticed the grazes that were bloody and a little bit dirty, too. "Maybe his wounds are infected. If I can clean it well he will be okay, but...", King said. The last part of his sentence wasn´t good. "But what?", Lioness wanted to know. "... But if the wounds are too long infected, he will..." "...die", whispered Lioness. King nodded. He knew a little bit about wounds and how to bandage them, he learned it in a first aid lesson. Axel sweat, his whole body shook a little.

Hawk came in with some water. King gave Axel something to drink. "We need some textile, to clean his wound", King explained. Lioness tore her left jacket arm into pieces and gave them King. She didn´t care about her clothes, Axel was more important. She took his hand and hold it into hers. Meanwhile King put the clothes in the water and began cleaning the gazes. The green textile became as red as blood and King had to clean the textile very often. Lioness felt sad. Axel´s life was in danger and she couldn´t do anything. Slowly tears came up into her eyes. What if Axel won´t survive?

She pushed this thought quickly away and thought of something that was wonderful. Their kiss, for example. She remembered how happy she was, she seemed to be the happiest girl ever. "Lioness?", King looked at her. She was so deep in her thougts that she didn´t hear him. "Can you go and fetch some new water?" Lioness nodded and stood up. She took a half coconut with her to carry the water. The water was filled into the coconut and Lioness drank some water. It felt good and she forgot her feelings for a moment. But just for a moment, as she went into the cave and as she saw Axel her sad feelings came back. Shark and Hawk noticed how she felt and went out of the cave. They decided to go to the shore, in the moment they couldn´t help.

"Go with them", King said, "I know you like him a lot, but now you can´t help and you need some other thoughts." King was right. She couldn´t help and she felt sad, too. Lioness gave Axel a gently kiss on his cheek and went out. Just now she noticed what the hurricane destroyed: Trees laid on the ground, their roots high in the air. Bushes were simply blown away and broken twigs and branches laid all over the ground. All in all it was a chaos.

Lioness sat down on a fallen tree and pulled her knees up to her chest. She wrapped her arms around them and stared at the sea. Normally trees or bushes wouldn´t gave her any look at the sea, but the storm blew them away and now she could see the sea. It was blue and a little green. The light blue of the sea remembered her of Axel´s eyes, the eyes she often looked in and the eyes she loved so much at him. Eyes are like windows of the soul, especially Axel´s. His clear blue eyes were like a mirror. His true feelings were often shown in them. That was the reason why he couldn´t tell a lie if someone looked into his eyes. But this time they were closed and Axel himself laid there in the cave, his life on a thin grade.

Lioness tried to think of anything else but Axel. She looked at the sky and saw some seagulls. They flew in circles and sometimes one of them flew to the sea and caught a fish. Somehow the sky remembered her of his eyes, too. When he felt good and happy his eyes were a little bit light blue. When he used his Jo-Lan his eyes were light blue with some parts of darkblue. When he was sad his eyes had the colors of a dark blue, with some bright parts. Lioness shook her head. Was she just thinking of him?

She watched Shark and Hawk at the shore. The two guys made a fire, it was not big, but Lioness could see the colors orange, red and yellow very clear. _Fire, _she thought. The fire remembered her again of Jo-Lan. A dragon spits fire, and a dragon was the symbol of Jo-Lan. Since he was a small boy Axel learned and practiced Jo-Lan. His father taught him, but he was killed by Paine. Since then Axel hated Paine with his whole soul. And since then he tried to fight Paine with his Jo-Lan. It must be hard for Axel, he grew up without a father and was confronted with his father´s murderer. His heart was so hateful that he forgot his own life sometimes. He wanted to kill Paine, even if he would be killed.

Lioness made a new ponytail and sat on the ground. She leaned with her back against the fallen tree and closed her eyes. She remembered the times Axel and her were together. The time they were to shy to tell each other their feelings.

One time Lioness fell from a skyscraper and Axel caught her. That was after Paine gave her some of his pain the first time. Lioness passed out, but Shark told her that Axel caught her and that he was really worried about her. He even added that he could hear some fear in Axels voice after he caught her. The next time they met Paine Lioness went with Axel, but when she saw how Paine hurted him with his pain she couldn´t move. She didn´t know why, she saw Axel suffering with many pains and her body didn´t listen to her. It was like she was glued to the ground.

Another time Bogey and Flesh stole the Strato-Jet and Axel and Hawk hid on board to stop them. After the Strato-Jet got into the atmosphere again, it destroyed the tower and a hill of police cars. Fortunately Axel and Hawk weren´t hurt, and Lioness was very afraid, because they didn´t answer her over the communicator. When they landed she hugged Axel. She didn´t want to let him go, but she didn´t show it.

And after the five friends stopped Paine to destroy Landmark City with a meteorit, Lioness fell around Axel´s neck. He went into a deep pit and stopped an explosion. Lioness tried to hold him back, but he was faster than her and disappeared. She thought it would be his sure death. Axel came up again, a little weak maybe, but he was okay. Lioness was very happy about that.

Lioness opened her eyes. She looked at the sun and saw that it was high at the sky, it was just about midday. She decided to go to Shark and Hawk who were still at the shore. Lioness tried to smile as she came over to the two boys."Hey, guys, what about a small fight?", she asked them. In this fact she was just like Axel, when she fought she forgot everything around her and got some other thoughts. Hawk hesitated, but then he said yes. Shark wanted to fight, too. He knew that he had no chance, but he knew that Lioness needed some other thoughts, too.

Without any warnings Lioness jumped towards them and kicked. Axel would have blocked it easily, but Shark had some problems. That kick was too hard for him and he fell on his back. When she wanted to kick him again, he rolled away and got on his feet. Hawk attacked her from behind, but Lioness expected it and made a backward salto. She landed behind Hawk and punched him. He fell on the ground. Shark came from the right and kicked her. She blocked it and caught his leg. Then she threw it into the air and Shark fell down, too.

The brazilian girl went back into her fighting position and waited for the next attack. Hawk stood up very slowly and rubbed his arm. Lioness had hit him hard, so he walked over to a fallen tree and sat down. He said, that it would be suicide to fight against Lioness. She smiled about that and concentrated on Shark who gave her a confused look,"Err, Lioness, are you okay?" Lioness didn´t know what he meant. "I mean, you´re very different. Your attacks were harder than ever and even if you´re fighting your looking absent-minded. That´s not normal, dude", Shark replied to her look. Lioness sighed and sat down. She laid with her back into the sand and watched the clouds at the sky.

Meanwhile Shark went to some rocks in the water and watched some fish that were swimming in the not very deep water. Shark loved it to be in the water. If he could, he would swim the whole day, but in the water were sharks and he didn´t want to end as a second meal for them. Hawk decided to go for a walk around the isle. He was bored, and in the moment he couldn´t do anything for Axel or Lioness. So it was the best if he wasn´t around.

Some minutes later Lioness fell asleep. In her dream, she was in nowhere, everything was black. She went into any direction to see what was waiting for her. Then she saw a light that came nearer and nearer. When it reached her, she found herself in a park. It seemed to be the park of Landmark City. It was fall, the trees were yellow and brown, sometimes red. Fallen leaves swam on the water of a near lake and the sun started setting. Two people sat on a bench that stood near the lake. At second sight Lioness recognized a man and a woman. They sat very close together and the man wrapped his arm around the waist of the woman. Both seemed to be in the age of thirty.

Lioness went closer to them, but they didn´t notice her. She tried to went as close as possible to them and as she stood two metres away from them she was sure that they couldn´t see her. She looked into their faces. Somehow she knew the womans face, but she didn´t know why. The woman had long brown hair and green golden eyes. Then Lioness looked at the man. She stared into his light blue eyes and couldn´t believe her own: It was Axel! But who was this woman? Lioness was a little bit jealous of her. It was the same feeling that she had when Axel was with Magness. Why did she know her face?

Axel took the woman´s hand and looked into her face. Lioness could see something golden on each one´s fingers. It was a ring, so the two were married. Would Lioness and Axel not belong together? Lioness heart sank and she turned around. She saw two children playing on the green. The first one was a boy, had brown hair and blue eyes. He looked a little bit like Axel in small. The second one was a girl, she looked like the woman, brown hair and green eyes. So this were the children of Axel and his wife. Suddenly Lioness had an idea. She went to the woman and as she was just some centimeters away, the woman didn´t notice her. Lioness grinned a little and looked behind the left ear of Axel´s wife. There was a small scar behind it, not longer than two centimeters.

She couldn´t believe it: That was Lioness herself! She got the scar when she was a child. In Brazil a wild cat attacked her, but she could escape. The cat left her a little present: This scar. Lioness laughed when she thought that she was jealous of herself. She went to a tree not far from herself and Axel and sat down. It was a really wonderful picture. Parents were watching their children. She leaned against the tree. Axel and herself sat close together, both happy and they seemed to be armored even after this long time, because the boy was in age of nine, the girl was seven. So Axel´s marriage was maybe ten years ago.

Something shook her and Lioness woke up. Shark knelt next to her. She looked around and saw the sunset. "What happened?", she asked. "King sent me. He said you should come now if you want to sleep at a warm place. Oh, and it´s about Axel. He-" "What´s with him?", Lioness interrupted. She didn´t wait for the answer and ran to the cave. As she arrived King was making a fire in front of the cave. He looked up as he saw Lioness coming.

"What´s with him?", she asked the gentle giant.

"After you left he fell into a Jo-Lan trance to help his body closing the wounds. Sometimes he is whispering something, but I can´t understand him. If you want, you can go to him", he answered. He knew that Lioness wanted to be with Axel.

"Thank you", she replied and went into the cave. She had to creep through the hole and saw Axel laying on the ground. He had closed his eyes and his mouth was forming some weak words. _He must have very much pains_, Lioness thought and knelt down next to him. The eve´s sun fell into the cave and she saw his wounds. They were even bigger than she thought before. His right upper arm was full of deep scratches and gazes. The dried blood made his arm red. Sweat streamed his forehead down. Then he whispered some very quiet words and shook his head a little.

Lioness took his hand and told him to stay strong. "I need you", she whispered and placed her hand on his cheek. She felt that he was hot, but not as hot as before, so his trance worked. In some time he would be healthy again. She leaned with her back against the cave wall and hold still his hand. As King came in to say her that the meal is ready, he saw her laying in Axel´s arms, asleep. King smiled and went to the others.

"You see, they belong together, just like I said", King told Shark and Hawk who were sitting at the fire. Shark had to laugh about this sentence. He laughed so loud that some sea gulls flew away in panic.

"This isn´t funny", King said offended. Hawk hold his laugh with effort and his head turned a little red. He took a deep breath in and tried not to laugh again. Shark fell on his back, he laughed since five minutes now. King gave him an evil eye and he stopped laughing. But he smiled and held his laugh back.

"King, please promise that you´ll never say this sentence again, please!", Shark said laughing a little, "Or I´ll laugh so loud that Alaska can hear me."

King promised and sighed. Sometimes Shark was really a pain in the neck. But he was his friend so he just sighed and shutted up.

When they all were tired they went into the cave. "It is really useful that they love each other", Hawk mentioned. King and Shark gave him a confused look. " See, they´re laying so close together that we have got more place to sleep!" Shark groaned, but somehow Hawk was right. The cave was very small and everyone didn´t have much place to sleep. "Do you think we will get home?", King suddenly asked. None answered him, none knew an answer. Maybe a ship could find them, but there was something that told them this idea won´t become true: _Maybe_. This word stole each one the hope of getting found.

This word was in each one´s head before they fell asleep. Lioness woke up after the others were sleeping. She had slept the whole afternoon, so she wasn´t tired. She saw nothing, the darkness fell over the isle, so Lioness searched Axel´s hand in the darkness. She gave him a soft kiss on his cheek and stared into the darkness. The whole night she sat there just like this. Sometimes she noticed that Axel was whispering or shaking. Then she ran her hand down his one and whispered some words to him and he calmed down.

In the early morning hours she saw that the sky turned a little yellow at the horizon. She stayed the whole night with Axel and she didn´t sleep. Her eye lids were very heavy now and she yawned. Some minutes later she fell, with a smile on her face, asleep. She smiled, because she felt that Axel would become healthy. She thought of him as she closed her eyes and the world around her disappeared, she fell into a peaceful sleep.

_**Okay, I hope you like this chapter, too. And thank you very much for your great reviews!**_

_**I never thought that anyone would like the story I wrote...THANK YOU!!!**_

_**( I know...my english is not very well and I used some words very often, because I didn´t know any others for them. But you should know: I tried to give my best! )**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter VII**

Axel woke up in the early morning. He found himself lying in the cave, his memories were full of gaps. Outside the sky turned a little yellow and orange. Next to him laid Lioness, she was in a deep sleep. Her breath was regular and the morning sun threw some yellow light on her brown her. There was some soil in her hair, but Axel didn´t notice it. He bent over to her and looked into her face. He smiled and kissed her cheek. Suddenly a familiar voice spoke up,

"She stayed with you through the whole night and she didn´t sleep anytime." It was King, he sat in the opposite of him and watched his best friend since some time. "Why do you know that?", Axel asked back. He couldn´t remember anything, just that he tried to blast the tree away, after that everything went dark. Sometimes he heard a far voice in the darkness, but black clouds held this voice back.

"I heard her whispering in the night. I think she fell asleep at about sunrise", he replied. "What happened while I passed out?" Axel wanted to know what happened.

"I think you passed out a day or so. After you blasted the tree in front of the cave away, you breathed heavily and then you fell on the ground. Lioness was worried about you, so I sent her away. It was the best for her. That she saw you made her sad."

"And what happened then? I mean, something important. Appeared a ship or a plane? I think the tree I blasted away wasn´t the only one that fell", Axel suggested. And he was right. King told him that nearly every tree or palm on the isle fell down or flew into the sea. But Axel was more important than a signal fire, so King cared about him. The others, especially Lioness, were so worried about their friend that they forgot to make a signal fire or something else.

Axel heard enough. He went out and breathed the cool morning air in. Then he saw the chaos: Trees and plants laid all over the isle. They fell down or they were blown away. Axel drank some water from the spring and went to the shore. He felt better now, his headache were gone and his gazes were cleaned and at some parts closed by new skin. The fire from the evening glimmed a little bit and he threw new branches and twigs in it. Some minutes later he had a nice fire, about a metre high. Axel searched some more branches, twigs, leaves and grass for a signal fire.

He had an idea: Maybe the storm destroyed their old hut, so he could take the material of it. And he was right, the storm destroyed everything, sometimes he found parts of the hut a hundred metres far away. When he picked up seven thick branches at the same time his upper arm burned. Not every graze was closed, so Axel took just four branches. He threw them on the fire and the flames licked at their new food. He went three or four times till the fire was big enough. Now it was about two metres high and the heat was terrible. Five metres away Axel sat down and leaned his back on a fallen palm. All he had to do was waiting. Waiting for a ship or a plane. The smoke of the fire was dark and grey black. Moreover it was very high, perhaps about a half mile.

_She stayed with me the whole night... and she was there for me when I needed her. _He closed his eyes. _I love her and she loves me. But what is the reason? Why do I like her so much?_

Axel thought of all the adventures they went through after Paine broke out of jail. He tried to find a reason why he loved Lioness as much as he did.

_Maybe because she is couragous and very beautiful, too. _He thought of her eyes, her green golden eyes, and he had never seen any eyes like hers. They were as deep as the sea, but their colors were mysterious. Mainly her eyes were golden. But some green parts made her eyes to the most beautiful ones ever. Eyes were like a window of the soul, in Lioness´ ones Axel never saw a clear feeling or thought. She could hide her feelings very well, in contrast with Axel. If she was looking into his blue eyes he couldn´t keep anything hidden.

_That´s one thing why I like her so much. She knows my feelings and she knows how to treat me. When I´m sad she´s there for me, when I´m really angry she knows that I want to be alone. She understands me more than any other person. And I know her very well, too._

This question ran through his head. But there was another one, too. Was Lioness prepared for a relationship? And was he prepared for it? They loved each other very much, but sometimes Axel was very difficult. He knew that and he didn´t want to lose Lioness because of that. Sometimes he´s saying something that he didn´t meant so. Or he´s acting like real fool. He smiled. Yes, he was difficult, but he was sure that their love was strong enough to stay through this.

Axel heard a quiet noiese behind him and started to smile. Of course he knew that it was Lioness, she alwas sneaked to him and thought that he wouldn´t hear her. But his father taught him Jo-Lan and he learned listening to his environment everytime. He turned his head around and saw the girl. She smiled to him and fell around his neck. "I´m so happy that you´re okay", she said to him and hugged him tight. "Did you sleep well? King told me you were awake through the whole night", he replied. Lioness yawned a little and nodded. Her eye lids were heavy, but she could sleep later.

Lioness wanted to tell Axel about her dream, but then she decided to tell him at the right time. She leaned her head against his shoulder after she sat down. He looked into her eyes and saw that she was really tired. Axel wrapped his left and healthy arm around her and together they watched the sea and looked for a ship or a plane. Some time later Lioness said," Let´s do something, I´m bored."

"Okay, but we can´t fight. My arm is hurt", he answered. "Well, let´s go and fetch the others. Everything is funnier together", she smiled and they went to the cave. Hawk leaned against the rocks and sleeped. King just came out of the cave, followed by Shark.

"Any ships?", they asked. Axel shook his head no. Then Hawk woke up,"Hey, nice to see you, Axel, how do you feel?" "Better", he answered. That was a half lie. His arm burned always when he moved it, but that was better then being passed out or deadly ill. They all went to the signal fire. Each one sat down five or six metres away from it, the heat was terrible. And that was good. The smoke was about a half mile high and the fire burned very well. In between Axel threw some wet plants in the flames, so it would smoke more than before.

The whole morning and early afternoon they sat there and talked and made jokes. Sometimes Shark laughed so much that he didn´t get any air, so his head turned red. And even Axel laughed very much with the others. He felt very good and he forgot his arm. In his mind he was absent. He thought of any way to get away from this isle. But he had to thank the thunderstorm they flew in. If they hadn´t flown into this storm, they wouldn´t be there and Axel wouldn´t be together with Lioness. All in all they were lucky: None got hurt, exept Axel and his arm, they found a shelter, they had enough to live. Axel was the one of them who had had the most luck. He found a girl he loved and this girl loved him, too.

Suddenly a small thing appeared at the horizon. At second sight the five friends recognized a ship, yes it was a ship! They were rescued, they would come back home. "We´re rescued!", Shark yelled and each one jumped because of happiness into the air. They hugged each other and shouted to the ship. Lioness pulled Axel into a kiss and he kissed her back. In one or two days they would be at home.

The ship came nearer and nearer and a hundred metres in front of the isle it stopped. A life-boat was put into the water and two sailors rowed towards the five teens. Both sailors spoke english, so they understood each other. The ship was home on Cuba and the sailors told them that these isle was in the north of the Bahamas. They arrived the ship and the captain spoke to Axel,

"Welcome on my ship. Why were you on this isle? You´re lucky that we found you, normally three ships are crossing this route in a year."

"We had a crash with a jet and landed on this isle. We were there since some days", Axel replied," Would you bring us to the next town? We want to go home as fast as we can."

"We´ll arrive in Havanna tomorrow. You can take the room 12 while you´re on this ship. And for the young lady is room 13", the captain said.

"Thanks, that is really kind of you", Axel said. A young sailor showed them their rooms. Everyone was tired and glad to see a real bed again. Shark, Hawk and King went into room 12, Axel and Lioness stood outside. After Hawk closed the door Lioness hugged Axel and smiled a little. "Would you stay with me?", she suddenly asked. Axel was a little surprised about this question, but he shook his head yes," It would be a pleasure to me."

Axel told the boys he would sleep in Lioness room and got an unfunny comment of Hawk. Then he went back to Lioness. She stood with her back to him and looked out of the port hole. Axel sneaked over to her and she didn´t notice him. She stared at the sea and thought of his eyes. She didn´t know that anyone could have so much feelings shown in his eyes. But she liked this, so she could read him like a book and knew about his true feelings. Axel grabbed her shoulders and frightened her. She screamed till Axel kissed her. Soon she broke the kiss and wrapped her arms around his waist. Lioness laid her head on his chest and heard his regular heart beat which calmed her down. He stroked her head with his left hand, the right arm was wrapped around her waist.

They stood there for about ten minutes and Lioness didn´t want to broke this hug. But Axel did and laid on the bed. "Wow, it´s great to lay in a real bed again", he said smiling. He crossed his arms behind his head and laid on his back.

Lioness smiled back and turned to the port hole. Axel felt very tired. He sleeped the whole last day, but the illness stole his energy. He closed his eyes and after half an hour he fell asleep. Lioness heard his regular breath. Exept the ships engine and the sound of the waves his breath was the only sound in the room. Sometimes she could hear Shark, Hawk and King next to them. They laughed about a joke or someone yelled.

In between some isles appeared at the horizon, but the ship was very fast, so they disappeared after a few seconds. The sky turned a little orange and the sun setted. Lioness wondered how late it was. The clock at the wall showed that it was just about eight in the evening. _So late? Wow, I lost my feeling for the time while our "holidays"_, she thought. Then she went over to Axel and pulled the blanket to his chin. She laid on the second bed in the room and looked a last time out of the port hole. Lioness pulled her blanket up to her shoulders and laid on her side.

She watched Axel who was still asleep. It was very funny, because he pulled faces when he was sleeping. She watched him till he turned to the wall and she saw his back.

As the sky was darkblue Lioness fell asleep, too.

The next morning Axel woke her up. "Good morning, in ten minutes we´re arriving in Havanna", he said smiling. Lioness yawned and gave him a little kiss. Then Axel went out of the room and let her alone. He went on deck and over to the rail. At the horizon was a big island, Cuba. He has never been there and thought Havanna was not very big. But he didn´t know that Cuba was that big and its capital was as big as Landmark City. They arrived the harbor. Many fisher ships came back from the sea with many fish. Some privat boats laid on the docks, too. Axel saw very much different boats and ships. With one word: The harbor was giantic.

King came on deck, too, and went over to his best friend. "The captain allowed me to phone Mr Lee, a plane is waiting for us at the airport", he said. "Great, we´ll be at home in the afternoon, I think", Axel replied.

King hesitated, but then he asked," I´ve got a question..." "And what do you want to know?"

"Well, you like Lioness very much, don´t you?" "Yes, but if that was your question it was a stupid one. You know that I like her, everyone knows that", Axel answered. King acted out of character. He asked a very stupid question, that wasn´t normal, so he was hiding something.

"Forget it", King said and went under deck. Axel was confused. What did he really want to know?

At the harbor they thanked the captain and went to the street. Lioness spoke spanish to a man in a shop and he told her how to get to the airport. They went through the whole city. The sun was shining and the people on the street looked at the five figures. They were confused, surprised and some children were afraid. "Why are they staring at us?", Hawk whispered to Shark. "Haven´t you seen yourself in a mirror yet? Your looking as if you came out of the jungle...after two weeks", Shark answered and smiled. Hawk looked at himself. His blue jumpsuit was more brown and green than blue. On his legs and his left arm it was torn into pieces. He really looked like a half jungle man.

But none looked better. They were all dirty and Lioness right jacket arm was gone, King used it to clean Axel´s wounds.

The five friends arrived at the airport and searched for Mr Lee´s plane. Mr Lee himself came towards them,"It´s great to see you again. On our flight back you can tell me what happened." The flight lasted three hours and Axel, King and Shark used this time to explain all happenings of the last days. Axel left the thing with Lioness out. Sometimes Lioness or Hawk added things to the story. Mr Lee was surprised and a little shocked. The five teens went through very difficult situations, but never through someting like that.

Back in Landmark City Mr Lee gave them a week of holidays to get some rest. Each one was happy to see his bed again. Lioness went into the bathroom and had a shower. Shark laid on his bed and said he wouldn´t get up till he was fifty years old. Hawk threw himself on the couch and watched TV after he had a shower, too. King went into his bathroom and had a bath. Axel disappeared in his room to change his clothes. He saw himself in a mirror and was surprised. His whole body changed a little. His clothes were dirty and torn into pieces. His arm was full of dried blood and in his face were some very small gazes and of course: dirt.

After a shower he looked at the clock, it was 15:18. Axel went into the kitchen and found King who was eating. Axel took a meal, too. In the last days he just ate fruits. "Somehow I´m missing this isle", he said to King. "No, I´m glad to be at home again, I missed our fridge", he joked. Axel smiled and after he ate his meal he went into his room again. He laid on his bed and took his penknife. While he stared at the ceiling he folded the separate blades out and in. In some times he thought that the red dragon on it shimmered like he had real scales.

Someone knocked at the door. It was King,"Do you want to come with me into town? I want to look if everything is on its place." "Sure", Axel answered and stood up. He went with King to the garage and they took their bikes. "Are you sure you can drive after such a long time?", Axel joked. King nodded and they started a race into town. They arrived at the same time and parked their bikes. King suggested to walk through the old part of town, he said it was the nicer part of Landmark City. There were not as much people as in the new part, but the shops were smaller and nicer.

They walked past different shops and each one had different things to sell: There was a department store, a fishing shop, an internet cafe and much others. King stopped at a snack bar and fetched a hot dog. But the line was very long, so he had to wait. Axel stood a few metres away and looked to a jeweler. In the shop window he saw different necklaces and rings. There were gold and silver rings.

_Would Lioness like such a ring?_ He thought of their marriage, but he wasn´t sure if he should ask her. He wanted to wait some time. Suddenly King came over to him and pulled him out of his thoughts. "Hey, I see you´re interested in jewelry", he said. Then he thought a second time and smiled a little," You want to ask her, don´t you?" Axel blushed a little. How did he do that? Could King read thoughts? "I want to wait some time", he answered quickly and they moved on. "But please don´t tell Lioness anything of that", Axel said to his best friend. "I promise", King answered.

_**Hey, I hope you like the chapter! You wrote so great reviews...( thank you very, very much!)**_

_**I let you guess if Axel will ask Lioness to become his wife...**_

_**The next chapter is coming soon!**_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter VIII**

_Five months later:_

Axel got up early in the morning. Nearly every day he thought when the right moment would come. The moment he wanted to ask Lioness to become his wife. Today he was going with King into town, they want to buy the ring. At the moment Axel put his tracksuit on and went into the gym. Five months ago they were all on this isle. Sometimes he missed the peaceful atmosphere there, the silence and the sunny weather. It was fall now and the trees turned red and yellow, some leaves were brown.

Almost every day it rained or it was cloudy, the weather made everyone depressed.The sun never came out. Outside were just seven grade celsius. That was very warm for end of November. Axel looked out of the window. In the summer he would see the sunrise now, but thick grey clouds were at the sky and it started to rain. He had to turn the lights on if he didn´t want to fall over the things which laid on the floor. Shark forgot to bring his magazines away, so they laid all over the floor.

Quietly Axel sneaked into the gym. He didn´t turn the light on, so he could train fighting in the darkness. He made some stretching exercises. The grazes on his arm disappeared some time ago and he could move it like before. Because of the rain the gym was nearly dark. Axel just saw the silhouettes of the mats and the windows. Anything else was swallowed up by the darkness. He trained bare footed, because he tried to move without any noise. In the darkness none would see him and if he was very quiet in his movements none could notice him.

Axel kicked his invisible opponent and landed on his feet without any noise. He smiled and punched his opponent hard, but noiseless. His breath was the only thing that he heard in the gym. He fought like this for an hour. Sometimes he made a wrong movement and landed on the ground with a loud noise. Then he concentrated again and tried to fight noiseless. While he fought he thought when he could ask Lioness. In the last months their trust and their love went stronger. She trusted him and he trusted her as much as someone could. In their fight training they knew each others movements very well and so their fights lasted longer and longer with every time. Each one knew what to do when the other one was starting ot kick or punch. It was nearly impossible to end the fight with a win.

With the time the light came in the gym, but it was still too dark to cognize anything very sharp and clear. There were just moveless shadows. But one shadow moved and jumped through the whole gym. It looked like if Axel was hunting his opponent, like he wanted to hit him when he wouldn´t expect it. The darkness helped him a lot to hide and then to use the moment of surprise to attack the opponent. After an attack he disappeared in the darkness again.

As Axel wanted to attack his opponent again he heard a noise that he didn´t cause. The light was turned on and Lioness appeared in the door. Axel held his hand over his eyes because he trained in the darkness and the light was very bright. "What are you doing here without light?", Lioness asked and went over to him.

"I trained. And what are you doing here _with_ light?", he asked back and smiled. His eyes got used to the bright light and he could see Lioness clear now. She wore green pants and a white top. Her hair were in a ponytail. She smiled, too, put her shoes off, turned the light off and waited a few seconds till her eyes got used to the darkness. Without any word Axel understood what she was planning. She wanted to fight with him in the darkness, like he did the whole morning. He saw her silhouette, but with one quick and noiseless move she disappeared in the shadows. Axel acted like her and hid in the darkness, too. Her movements were as quiet as his ones and it was very difficult to find her.

Suddenly he heard a noise right of him and turned around. He knew that he had to move, otherwise she would find him earlier or later. With many concentration Axel jumped into the air and tried to land without a noise. He made it and sneaked into one corner of the gym. In front of him he saw a slowly moving shadow. It was Lioness, she didn´t hear him and now she didn´t know where he was. Axel moved towards her, slowly. As he wanted to kick her, she jumped away. For a few seconds he saw her face, but then she hid in the black darkness.

Some minutes later something brushed his hair and instinctive he rolled backwards. He saw Lioness crouching in a jumping position, she laid in wait for him. The little bit of light let Axel saw her contour. She was crouching like a lioness on hunt, she stabilized her position with her hands on the floor. With a fast move she jumped into the darkness again. Axel closed his eyes and tried to hear her moves. Behind him was a quiet sound. It seemed to be her breath. They were hunting each other since half an hour.

Very slowly Axel moved to her position and guessed where she exactly was. If he came to near, she would hear him and his chance would be gone. One or two metres in front of him he saw her slight contour. Her back was turned to him, so she didn´t notice him. He jumped towards her and caught her waist. She screamed in surprise and both fell on the ground. Lioness laughed and kissed him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his around her waist.

"I think we wanted to fight", she said and broke the kiss. "Hey, we fought about half an hour. I saw your contour in the darkness. You moved like a lioness on hunt", he said and smiled. It was dark and they coulnd´t see each other very well, but he smiled. "What do you think where I got my nickname from?", she laughed and gave him a second kiss.

All of a sudden the light turned on and Shark came in. He saw Axel and Lioness lying on the floor, arms in arms. Both blushed slightly and Shark grinned,"Sorry, dudes, but King is looking for Axel. I heard some sounds here, so I thought you would be here." Then Shark went out and let them alone. The clock at the wall showed that it was about half past eight. Axel helped Lioness up and went into his room. He changed his clothes and found King waiting in the garage.

"Do you know what the time is?", he asked with played anger. "Sorry, but...I forgot the time", Axel replied. "Okay, do you know which ring size Lioness has?", King whispered. Axel fetched a ring out of his pocket and smiled," I found this one in her room. I never saw her wearing any jewelry, but we should hurry up before she´ll notice that her ring is gone." King nodded and they sat on their bikes.

Ten minutes later they arrived at the jeweler and Axel went in to buy the ring. He was very nervous, because he never did something like that before. Fighting was no problem, even if he risks his own life, but choosing a ring for his wedding? That was a real big thing. King waited outside and leaned against a wall. He could see Axel through the shop windows. The salesperson showed Axel many rings. They talked a lot and the salesperson smiled very often. Sometimes it seemed to be that he made a joke and Axel laughed a little. After twenty minutes Axel came to King, in his hand a small black box.

"And?", King asked interested. Axel opened the box and a golden ring appeared. "Do you think she will like it?", he asked while he closed the box. He put it into his pocket. "Yes, of course", his best friend answered. Then he asked,"Are you sure you want to do this?" Axel looked at him. That was a good question. He loved Lioness very much and she loved him, too. But were they prepared to marry? Axel thought a few seconds and nodded. He didn´t want to think of what would be if she´s saying no.

When they arrived at home Lioness was in the gym and trained. Axel used this time to put her ring he took back into her cupboard. He opened the door quietly, laid the ring into the cupboard and sneaked out. He closed the door just in time: Lioness came out of the gym and walked towards him. She smiled to him and went into her room. Axel had luck, she didn´t seem to know about his little theft. Relieved he went back to his room and laid on his bed. He took the black box out of his pocket and opened it. The ring was a simple golden ring, but in its inside was an inscription, _for the lioness of my heart_. The letters were written in a thin and beautiful script.

Now Axel had to wait for the right moment. He hid the box under his pillow and stood up. He was the whole morning with King in town, but now he felt bored. He thought a second and went back to his bed. Axel took the black box and put it into his jacket. If the right time came he would have the ring with him and this gave him a safe feeling. It was about midday, King ate something in the kitchen, Shark played a videogame, Hawk was at his laptop. Axel decided to wait till the evening for his question. So he went over to Shark and played a videogame with him. Somehow he was very nervous. Lioness wasn´t around him, but he felt watched of her.

After seven times of losing against Shark he stood up and walked to the garage. Axel needed some fresh air and took his bike. Suddenly Lioness appeared on the stairs and came over to him,"I´ll come with you", she said and sat on her bike. In his mind Axel smiled. The right time was very near, he could feel it. Lioness suggested a place in the forest behind the town. He knew this place. His father often went there with him to practice Jo-Lan. It was a really nice forest, with many rocks, some cliffs and, of course, trees. Some of them were about fifty metres high, he remembered.

They parked their bikes in front of a giant tree that stood a hundred metres away from the street. Axel and Lioness went for a walk through the forest, they didn´t know how big it was, so it was possible they wouldn´t find the way back. And the last time Axel was there was ten years ago. Lioness found a path and they followed it. Axel had his hands in his pockets and touched the small black box he hid there. He didn´t know why but he smiled a little. Lioness was confused of this smile and looked at him. He shook his head and walked straight on.

The path disappeared and a black branch that was rammed into the ground stood in front of Axel and Lioness. At second sight they noticed the orange ribbon, it was wrapped around the branch and moved in the soft breeze. Axel took a step forward and knelt down. The branch was not longer than his leg. A thin inscript was written on it in chinese. He mumbered some words and stood up. He showed Lioness to follow him, then he started running. Lioness had some problems to follow him because the ground was very hilly and plants or branches appeared sometimes in her way. Axel left the path and ran through the big bushes. All of sudden he stopped and Lioness tried not to crash into him. But the view she had was fantastic.

They stood on a small hill in front of a waterfall. The water ran from over a cliff into the waterfall and then into the valley. Trees stood all around the valley, but not in it. there was just the river and grass. Bright flowers grew next to the river and as Axel went to the waterfall some birds rose up into the sky.

"Wow, what a beautiful place! Why do you know it?", Lioness asked him. He looked around the valley. "My father went with me to this place very often. He said that I would have more concentration here. This was one of the places where he taught me Jo-Lan."

Lioness sat down in the soft grass. Axel sat next to her and she leaned her head against his shoulder. As Lioness wrapped her arm around him she touched the black box in his pocket and it fell on the ground. Axel took it very quickly and put it into his pocket with a fast move. He blushed a little and Lioness noticed this. "Hey, what are you hiding of me?", she asked and stood up. She tried to get the box, but Axel stood up, too, and ran away. She followed him and he was too slowly for her. With one jump she got him and they fell on the ground.

The box fell, too. And as Axel thought it couldn´t become worse the box opened with a quiet click. Lioness stopped in her movement and picked the box up. She looked at the golden ring with amazement. Axel would give everything if he could read her mind. A few seconds later he decided to ask her. He was very nervous and tried not to sound like that. He took a deep breath in. Lioness was still staring at the ring, then she looked at him.

"Err, Lioness? I´ve got a question...", he paused and took a second breath in,"...do you want to become my wife?"

Everything he wanted to say was said. Now he had to wait. Lioness looked into his eyes with a deeply sight. Then she said...

_**I think you want to know what she´ll answer, right? Tja, you´ll have to wait, just like Axel ;-)**_

_**But not very long, the next chaper is in progress!**_

_**(The next chapter is the last chapter!!! )**_


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter IX**

Axel and Catalina Manning sat on a bench in the park of Landmark City. They married nearly ten years ago. It was a big party, Lioness´s family came from Brazil. Even all of her four brothers! Her parents were very proud of her and said she had chosen the right one. They knew Axel some time before and liked him at once. It didn´t matter that Axel had no family on the feast, Lioness´family was his, too.

Axel smiled and looked around. The trees had red, orange or brown colors because it was fall. He looked at the lake in front of them. Fallen leaves swam on the shimmering water. It was in the early evening and the sky turned red, too. He took Lioness´ hand and smiled at her. She smiled back and leaned her head against his shoulder. Axel wrapped his arm around her and felt the warmth of her body. Happy he watched two children playing on the green. But they weren´t any children, they were Lioness and his children. The eldest was nine years old and a boy, he looked like his father and had brown hair and blue eyes. The youngest was a girl in age of seven. She had golden eyes and brown hair, too. There was a big similarity to her mother.

But some time before their wedding Paine attacked the five friends again. Axel remembered that time. It was the last time he saw Paine.

_Flashback_

_Axel sat up in his bed. He was sweatbathed, because it came back. It was the same dream he had on the isle they were five months ago. Lioness fell from a cliff and he couldn´t help her. He couldn´t do anything and each time he had this nightmare his hate on Paine went bigger. It was his fault that Lioness fell, Axel thought. But it was his fault, too. Then fear came up in his chest. The fear that this dream could become true. Not in this way, but if Paine heard that Axel loved Lioness, he would do everything to kill her. And this would kill Axel, too. He loved Lioness too much to lose her. Paine won´t get this chance to hurt her or Axel. He swore that he would bring Paine into jail, even if he got hurt. _

_Axel thought of the last day. He had asked Lioness to become his wife and she said yes, but was it right to ask her after such a short time? Suddenly someone knocked on his door. It was Lioness."Axel? Wake up, Paine is in town", she whispered. "I´m awake. Why must he do something in late night?", he asked back and stood up. Axel put his black and orange jumpsuit on and went into the garage. His friends were waiting there for him. Hawk yawned a little, but Shark didn´t seem to be tired. He could be awake a whole night without anytime of yawning. King leaned against the Slamma, cross-armed, his eyes closed. As he heard Axel on the stairs he rose his head and smiled tired. _

_They found Paine on the top of a skyscraper. Some people ran out of the building and the foyer was half burning. The five teens took the stairs, so Paine wouldn´t hear them. The lift makes a sound if it reached a floor and Paine would know who came. On the top Axel opened the door and rolled through it. With one move he went into fighting position and saw Paine a few metres in front of him. _

_"Ahh, Manning. You´re not very easy to find", he grinned and clapped with his hands. Spydah and Flesh appeared behind their boss. "I know your weakness now. Yes, you seem to be a very diffucult opponent, but not longer." He sent a look to Lioness who stood behind Axel. Axel himself noticed Paine´s look an got to know what was in his mind: He wanted to attack Lioness. Axel´s look went more serious than before. _

_"It would be too bad if your little girlfriend here had an accident..." Axel had heard enough. He ran towards Paine and kicked him. His opponent blocked it and punched Axel. He rolled under it and into the back of Paine who quickly turned around and told Spydah and Flesh to attack. Both ran towards the three guys and Lioness. King cared about Flesh, Hawk helped him. Lioness and Shark fought against Spydah. His mechanical limbs tried to catch Lioness. She made a salto backwards and kicked his legs. Shark jumped on Spydah´s back. He held his hands in front of Spydah´s eyes, so he couldn´t see anything._

_Suddenly one of his mechanical limbs caught Lioness´ leg. She couldn´t move and was absolutely helpless. Spydah tried to get Shark off of his back and whirled with his limbs. The limb that held Lioness threw her in a far throw away, towards the edge of the roof. Axel noticed how she flew through the air and ran after her. With one jump he caught Lioness´ arm, but she hung with her body in the free air. If Axel let her go, she would fell into her sure death far under her. _

_"Not this time", Axel thought. He put every power that was in his arm and tried to pull her up. It was very difficult with one arm, but he needed the other one to hold on the roof. His arm burned and nevertheless he pulled her up. She caught the edge of the roof with her second hand and pulled herself up. Then she laid on the ground and breathed heavily. Nearly she fell into her sure death. _

_Axel stood up and turned to Paine who was really angry his plan didn´t work. Axel rubbed his arm, because it still burned. "Not this time", he said loudly. Paine was confused by this sentence. Axel collected his whole spirit power and closed his eyes. As Paine attacked him he opened his eyes quickly, they glimmed light blue. Then he used his Jo-Lan and blasted Paine away. He fell on the ground hardly and passed out. _

_Meanwhile King, Shark and Hawk won against Spydah and Flesh, both laid on the ground and passed out, too. Some minutes later an ambulance and the police arrived. The five friends went down (with the lift this time). Axel looked after Paine, four policemen took him into a policecar. Flesh and Spydah came into another one. If looks killed, Paine´s one would. His look was full of hate. Axel turned his back to him. _

_He closed his eyes and thought of his dream. It didn´t become true, and Axel was very happy about that. Losing Lioness would be the hardest thing on earth for him. He would die for her. Lioness came over to him and gave him a tight hug. "Thank you", she whispered in his ear and kissed him. He was sure he would never forget this day he brought Paine into jail again. And the day he asked Lioness to marry him. _

And he was right. Axel remembered to this day like it was the day before. Some days after they brought Paine into jail he dreamed again of the desert and the cliff. But when Lioness hung there, he caught her just in time and could pull her up, because Paine was gone. He wouldn´t hurt him or Lioness anymore. But what if he could escape again? He did it one time and he could do it one more time. Axel didn´t want to know the answer. The last years were very peaceful for him.

Ten years were a long time, meanwhile King and Shark got girlfriends, but Hawk was still single. Axel started with the Jo-Lan training for his son. In the age of six he was old enough to learn it. His daughter was mostly taught in Capoeira by Lioness, sometimes Axel showed her something of Jo-Lan. It was her own wish to learn Capoeira. After their daily fighting lessons the two kids often fought against each other. The small girl wanted to show her older brother that Capoeira is better than Jo-Lan. But mostly she lost because she was too small. "One day you´ll beat him", Lioness always told her daughter. But if the boy became as good as Axel, the future fights between them would end undecided.

Axel saw the leaves falling. The wind shook them off the trees. The wind was very cold but fresh. He pulled Lioness closer to him and took her hand. A golden ring shimmered on her right ring finger. She noticed that he stared at her. "What´s up?", she asked and looked into his eyes. His lips formed some soundless words as he thought of an answer. He knew no answer on that question. She was as beautiful as she was at the first day he met her. Her eyes had still the same misterious green and golden colors. Then he smiled and instead of an answer he pulled her in a deep kiss.

**Thanks for reading this story! And for those great reviews, of course!**

**;-) hope you liked it!!!**

**( please review)**

**I know...the last few chapters are not playing on the isle like the title says, but I wanted a nice end for this story. I hope it doesn´t matter!**


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